A Faithful Friend
by writersblock159
Summary: "I'm sorry, Pyrrha, but I'm not about to let you face Cinder alone..."


_"I tried so hard, and got so far..."_

_In The End - Linkin Park_

* * *

She was kissing him and it felt wonderful.

_This_ is what she had been denying herself since she'd met him. The boy with the puppy dog eyes, who lacked confidence, but made up for it with his indomitable persistence and uncompromising personal values. It didn't matter anymore though. Cinder couldn't win. That was why she was indulging herself now. She hadn't wanted to scare him off, and if she was being honest she hadn't known how to bring it up, and- Oh dust, _he was kissing her back! _

His arms were around her, and that felt good, it felt safe, it felt-

The wonderful feeling suddenly stopped as she felt herself pushed into a small metal locker and heard the door slam. How-? _When_ had they turned around?

"I'm sorry, Pyrrha, but I'm not about to let you face Cinder alone, and we both know you wouldn't let me go with you." Jaune's voice filtered through the locker. "This was the only way." She felt the thrusters engage.

"Jaune, don't! You can't- You don't know everything!" She was thrown to the floor as the locker launched. "Please," she whispered as she braced herself for the inevitable landing.

* * *

_'I just threw the only girl who ever showed an interest in me in a locker, and blasted her away.' _Jaune thought, holding Cera Mores tighter to try to keep his hands from shaking. _'What's worse is that I have no idea how to face the monster at the top of that tower.' _He shuddered a little as he waited for the elevator. _'I'm a huntsman. They -__**I'm**_ _supposed to be brave, like my grandfather.' _The elevator dinged,he stepped inside and watched the doors close. _'I don't feel brave. I feel scared. I feel out of my element.' _The elevator dinged again and the doors opened to what could only be described as a massive dragon. _'I feel small.' _

"Well, well, well, who's this?" Cinder walked across the floor, blades of dark glass in her hands. She paused as she got closer. "Oh, it's you." Jaune narrowed his eyes at the dismissal.

"Yeah, it's me." He hefted his sword, "I'm here to stop you." The villainess rolled her eyes.

"I've seen you fight, and I could crush you without a second thought," the sorceress ground out. "The fact you think you can take me is insulting." Combining the hilts of her blades, she knocked an arrow in her newly created bow. "Prepare to die." Jaune deflected the arrow off of his shield and barely had enough time to get his sword up to block a blow from a now seriously pissed off young woman. He could feel his training with Pyrrha taking over, his body moving naturally into a counterattack.

_'Now what?' _He thought as she easily blocked his blow. His sparring sessions with Pyrrha had always ended with him on his back with one of her blades at his throat. _'Though, in retrospect,' _he mused, ducking a swing by Cinder, _'considering how close we got on occasion, it makes me wonder how I missed so many signals.'_ He felt a sudden pain in his leg, and looked down to see an arrow sticking out of his thigh. Bracing himself, he ignored the pain and focused on the feeling of adrenaline pounding through his veins. _'Gotta stay up,_ _gotta keep fighting.' _

"You aren't going to win." Cinder snarled, "I shouldn't even bother with you. You're so _weak_!"

Jaune closed the distance between them and they began to exchange blows again. "If I'm so weak, then why are you so angry?" He bit out, trapping her bow between his sword and shield.

"Because _you shouldn't be here!" _the dark haired girl screamed as she ripped her bow free, knocking his sword out of his hands and kicking it away. "Anyone- _anyone_ would be better than you! The fact that you were the one they sent to try to defeat me is insulting." She renewed her attack. Jaune tried to block her bow, but several times he just wasn't fast enough, and several bruises began to form under his armor from the force of her blows. As he continued to fight he felt the sudden white hot pain of a blade slicing along his sword arm. A long, deep cut, which was now bleeding even worse than his thigh.

There was no doubt now: he was going to die. All that was left for him to do was to give everyone else time to escape. As he looked for his blade he felt a sudden pull on his shield. His arm followed, as did the rest of his body a moment later. The feeling of free fall lasted all of a moment before he felt a sudden pain in his sternum, the jarring stop only making the pain worse. Glancing down he saw what looked like a wooden pole, though it seemed to be covered in a dark sticky liquid.

Agony crashed over him like a wave as his nerves and brain caught up to the sudden impalement. Trying to shift left him gasping for air, each breath harder and more painful than the last. Spots danced in front of his eyes, and he fought to keep conscious, knowing that if he failed then he would never wake.

Through the haze of pain he saw Cinder advance on him, flames dancing in her hands. "Thus ends the amazing last stand of Jaune Arc."

Jaune looked at her, his vision already going dark. "You won't win."

Cinder smiled. "I already have." With those words, the fire raced toward him...

* * *

Far below, a girl in golden armor fell to her knees, tears dripping from her eyes at the sound of the screams emanating from the top of the tower. By the time a wave of light pierced through the dark night the screams had finally stopped, but her sobs had only grown louder.

**Title Credit: Louisa May Alcott**

**Working Title: Like I'd Ever Let You do That...**  
**R&R**


End file.
